Henry Ford built the Fair Lane estate between 1909 and 1915. It's now owned by the University of Michigan.

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With Henry Ford's 150th birthday to be celebrated this year, it appears one of the most obvious places to hold a birthday bash -- Ford's own Fair Lane estate in Dearborn -- may be off-limits to revelers.

The estate closed to the public in December 2010 as part of a plan announced earlier that year for the University of Michigan to transfer ownership to the Ford family-run Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores. But the transfer has been delayed by numerous legal issues, and needed renovations on Fair Lane estimated to cost as much as $21 million haven't started.